An emerging power in gambling
P anama is considered the most important financial nation in the region. The Panama Canal, besides joining the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, reduces maritime distances and is currently under expansion with an investment of US$5,000m. Our country is the landing point of several fibre optic sub-marine cable systems, it has a tax free environment, the US dollar is used as legal currency and it is the main distribution centre for commercial products and merchandise to Central and South America since one of the major distribution centres of goods in the world is the Colon Free Zone, which is the second largest duty-free trade area in the world, after the Hong Kong free zone, and the largest one in the western hemisphere. In 1997, the government owned the monopoly of the gaming industry. That year the gaming law was changed and the Gaming Control Board of Panama, which is a multi-disciplinary organization under the Minister of Finance, a member of the Congress and the Controller ...